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The Grand Hall

Ghosts and ghouls from around the world

The actual animatronics are situated in a "mirror image" set of the ballroom,
which is behind and above the ride track, invisible to you except through
reflection. Notice that the actual animatronics (examples pictured below)
are positioned against flat black props. This is to prevent the props from
reflecting over their counterparts in the mirrored stage.

Pepper spices things up

Note the empty ballroom set, above top, with the ghostly "occupants"
in the duplicate set behind the glass. Pictured beneath it are two ghosts
partying it up on a chandelier, and a photo of the Pepper's Ghost effect
in action at the Disneyland Haunted Mansion (taken by Robert Miller). There
are two Grand Hall "sets," each mirroring the other. One (the
darkened set containing the audio-animatronic figures) is set above and
underneath the Doom Buggy path, and the other (which is the dressed set)
is in front of the Doom Buggy path.

The darkened set is positioned to correspond exactly with the props in
the dressed set in front of the Doom Buggy track. For example, the organist
animatronic actually plays against a black block, designed to reflect as
little as possible. This way, his reflection combines optically with the
physical organ to create an illusion. All of the ghosts interact with blackened
replicas of the props they encounter in their "ghostly" form in
the dressed set.

Trompe L'oeil

As in the other scenes, no detail is overlooked in this awe-inspiring set.
Pictured above (and in the video below - click the image to play) are some
of the ghostly party guests, and the hearse which brought them to this "swinging
wake."

Notice that real woodwork meets Trompe L'oeil in various places in the
ballroom. From this rare view looking up the back banister (left), it is
apparent that the molding and woodwork on the rear wall is actually a photo-realistic
mural. A vase of peacock feathers and thick cobwebs add to the musty grandeur
of the opulent room. To enhance the apparent size of the room, some forced
perspective is employed by building the staircase smaller than lifesize.

Captain Nemo's organ resurfaces

The organ at Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is a piece of Hollywood
history, being the actual organ played by Captain Nemo in Disney's own 20,000
Leagues Under the Sea. (The still above left, which is from the film,
is the actual organ that you see today in the Disneyland Haunted Mansion.
Exact duplicates have been built for the other Haunted Mansions. Incidentally,
the very same organ first appeared at Disneyland in an early Tomorrowland
exhibit showcasing props from the 20,000 Leagues film, pictured
above right.)

Listen to (1.) the original ballroom organ track, and (2.) an unused version
of the Organist's crazed ballroom waltz as performed by Gaylor Carter,
who peformed all the organ tracks for the attraction.

The Grand Hall Organist

The
Haunted Mansion's organist plays a crazed version of Buddy Baker's "Grim
Grinning Ghosts" theme while howling banshees rise out of the pipes
and vanish into the air. As you can see below, the banshees are rotated
from a central hub. The organist is on risers to match his position to that
of the real organ in the mirrored set.

As
in the case of the organist, all of the animatroic figures are primarily
white or pastel with very light colored clothing. Color is accented in the
faces to bring out expressions and wrinkles. The animatronics are colored
to glow in black lighting or to reflect as much light as possible, to give
them a "ghostly" appearance. Accents are added just to give the objects
some depth. The apparent colors are determined partially by the lighting.
Many of the ghosts in the graveyard scenes, for example, wear translucent
apparel, so that their skeletal bodies can be seen through their clothing.

The
photo of the Disneyland Haunted Mansion organist at left is from a National
Geographic book called "Vacationland," which was published shortly
after the attraction opened to the public. The photo shows how the effect
appears under proper show lighting conditions.

Build your own "Grim Organist"

Want to re-create this illusion yourself? Assuming you have
an antique organ and a huge, empty ballroom (and a duplicate space next
to it to house your Pepper's Ghost illusions,) prop-master Doug Ferguson
has created a great set of detailed plans showing how to construct the "Grim
Organist's" animatronics. Click
here to check it out.

Up in the rafters

Having passed the Grand Hall, looking down into the ballroom from an upper
floor, the Doom Buggy now passes a small end table against the wall and
spins into the dark. Turning a corner, it is about to enter the Haunted
Mansion's attic - one of the most mysterious rooms in the entire attraction...